Jamestown, NY – You and the young one(s) in your life are invited to come and play outside with a naturalist.

On Sunday afternoon, October 15, 2017, Audubon Community Nature Center is offering a Nature Play Day to let children explore unstructured outdoor play in a safe environment and learn how to continue the nature play experience at home.

Children ages two to eight and their favorite adults can drop in anytime from 1 to 4 p.m. in Audubon’s Nature Play Area.

Unstructured play outside is beneficial to a child’s physical and mental development as well as their understanding and appreciation of the natural world. However, concerns about safety, location, materials and the value of play are often barriers in creating these experiences. This program aims to inspire both kids and adults to make discoveries and feel more comfortable about the natural world through play.

Jamestown, NY – The second of three free gardening workshops at Audubon Community Nature Center (ACNC) will be 5-6 p.m. on Monday, October 16, 2017.

You can learn about “Extending the Season” with tips and tools.

In this climate, growing things all year long can be a challenge. You can learn about cold-hardy vegetables, tools such as cold-frames and cloches that create warmer microclimates, and simple frost protection to make the harvest last a little bit longer or come on a little bit earlier in the spring.

Audubon senior naturalist Sarah Hatfield, volunteer Reg Boutwell, and other local gardeners will show you the ways they keep their gardens producing into the fall and through winter. There will be a short program followed by a panel questions-and-answers session.

Hands-on demonstrations will be available in the ACNC kitchen garden, so come prepared to go outside, dressing for the weather with appropriate footwear.

It's no secret that today's college graduates face record amounts of debt. Approximately 68% of the graduating class of 2015 had student loan debt, with an average debt of $30,100 per borrower — a 4% increase from 2014 graduates.1

A student loan debt clock at finaid.org estimates current outstanding student loan debt — including both federal and private student loans — at over $1.4 trillion. But it's not just millennials who are racking up this debt. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), although most student loan borrowers are young adults between the ages of 18 and 39, consumers age 60 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the student loan market.2

Identity theft is still a major problem in the United States. Over 15 million U.S. consumers lost $16 billion in 2016, compared with $15.3 billion and 13.1 million victims a year earlier. In the past six years, ID thieves have stolen over $107 billion.

To help combat ID theft and educate the public on best practices to secure personal information, Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York, in partnership with Tops Friendly Markets, Shred-It, AT&T, Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce, Cheektowaga Chamber of Commerce, and West Seneca Chamber of Commerce will host Secure Your ID Day on Saturday, October 7, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. – noon across Upstate New York (Western New York, Rochester, and Central New York).

The free community shredding events in Western New York will be held at Tops Friendly Markets at 355 Orchard Park Road, West Seneca and 3865 Union Road (corner of George Urban Blvd.), Cheektowaga in the parking lots.

AMHERST, N.Y. – For the second consecutive year, Daemen College has been ranked nationally in the prestigious Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, which focus on student success and learning. The second annual list includes 1,054 institutions from across the U.S.

Based on these four main pillars, Daemen was strongest in the area of engagement, making it the second time the college has ranked high for effectively engaging with students. Specific measures used to assess this are interaction with teachers and students, students feeling engaged with the college, whether students would recommend the institution to a friend, and the number of accredited programs.

When it comes to your finances, you might easily overlook some of the numbers that really count. Here are four to pay attention to now that might really matter in the future.

1. Retirement plan contribution rate

What percentage of your salary are you contributing to a retirement plan? Making automatic contributions through an employer-sponsored plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan is an easy way to save for retirement, but this out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach may result in a disparity between what you need to save and what you actually are saving for retirement. Checking your contribution rate and increasing it periodically can help you stay on track toward your retirement savings goal. .

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was enacted in 1974 to protect employees who participate in retirement plans and certain other employee benefit plans. At the time, there were concerns that pension plan funds were being mismanaged, causing participants to lose benefits they had worked so hard to earn. ERISA protects the interests of plan participants and their beneficiaries by:

· Requiring the disclosure of financial and other plan information

· Establishing standards of conduct for plan fiduciaries

· Providing for appropriate remedies, sanctions, and access to the federal courts